Hassock manufacture



May 24, 1966 R. H. c, sl-:ATON

HAS-SOCK MANUFACTURE Filed Jan. 2J., 1964 MM r P f /z/EEMES ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,252,737 HASSOCK MANUFACTURE Robert H. C. Seaton, E. T. Crump Co. Inc., Richmond, Va. Filed Ian. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 339,283 7 Claims. (Cl. 297-462) This invention relates to improvements in hassock manufacture and is more particularly directed to a novel method of applying the hassock bottom to a stuffed hassock cover and to the resulting improved hassockbottom construction.

According to the conventional method of hassock manufacture, an empty hassock cover ready for stuffing and the subsequent application of the hassock bottom thereto is placed, open-bottom end up, on the hollow, open-ended form or can of a hassock-stuffing press, through which `the stuffing material such as excelsior is adapted to be delivered to the interior of the hassock cover, and which also accommodates a poweroperated reciprocating compacting ram which compacts or densifies said stuffing material. Upon lowering of the form and the hassock cover mounted thereon on to a fixed platform or base, the stung material is delivered to the form and thereby indirectly to the hassock cover and it is compacted therein by the power-operated ram upon the latter being actuated throughout its working stroke.

To apply the hassock bottom, the latter is forcibly lowered by the ram through the form into the open bottom of the now stuffed hassock cover to a level therein corresponding substantially to that of the lower-edge welt conventionally provided on the open end of the cover. With the ram held stationary so as to maintain the bottom in place, the form is then lifted from the stuffed hassock cover and the hassock bottom is temporarily secured to the lower edge portion of the hassock cover as by stapling. Thereupon the ram is raised which of course completes the stuffing operation. However, the final securement of the hassock bottom to the cover as by gluing or other appropriate means or procedure must be effected in a separate operation which is usually performed upon removal of the hassock from the press.

Stated, broadly, the present invention contemplates and aims to provide a simplified mode of securing the bottom of a hassock to the stuffed hassock cover.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of hassock manufacture by which the hassock bottom is finally secured to the stuffed hassock cover while the latter is still in the stung press.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a method of hassock manufacture characterized in that the final placement within and securementA of the hassock bottom to the lower edge of the stuffed hassock cover is effected both within the press and in a fully automatic manner, i.e. as an incident to the stuing-compacting and bottom-applying ram partaking of its up stroke immediately following its final lowering stroke during the course of which it effects placement of the hassock bottom within the open end of the stuffed hassock cover.

In its article or product aspects, the invention aims to provide a novel, practical and thoroughly dependable hassock bottom construction characterized by the hassock bottom being initially locked in place within the cover and thereafter maintained so locked by the pressure or force of the filling or stuffing material compacted within the hassock cover which is effective on said bottom.

Another object of the invention is to provision of a simplified hassock bottorntostuffed hassock cover connection of a type which may be automatically completed within the press in which the hassock Cover is stuffed with its stufling or filling material.

3,252,737 Patented May 24, 1966 The above and other objects and features of advantage of the improved method of hassock manufacture according to the invention and of the improved and simplified hassock construction made possible by the practice thereof will appear from or be more fully explained in the following detailed description, in which reference is had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. l6 inclusive are diagrammatic views which illustrate the preferred sequence of steps followed in the practice of the herein proposed method of applying the hassock bottom to a stuffed hassock cover and thereupon automatically locking same in place within the cover;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged detail view, in section, illustrating the preferred manner of securing the combination weltforming and locking-flange strip to the lower edge of the hassock cover according to the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a completed hassock having its bottom attached thereto according to the practice of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, FIGS. 1-5 depict a sequence of the physical steps conventionally practiced in hassock manufacture which may be generally followed in the present method. More particularly, and referring to FIG. l, a prefabricated hassock cover 10, consisting of a closed top attached to the tubular side wall thereof and together defining an open-bottom hassock body, is shown as having been placed, open bottom-end up, over the lower open end of an open-ended tubular, shape-sustaining form or can 12 of a stuffing press, through which the stufng material is delivered to the hollow interior of said hassock body, and in which a compacting and bottom-applying ram 14 is adapted to be reciprocated by a suitable power means, not shown. The form 12 is also adapted to be reciprocated independently of the ram, either by said power means or by power means independent thereof. It will be understood that the aforesaid positioning of the hassock cover 10 on the form is effected prior to placing the press in operation and while the form 1.2 is raised from the rigid stationary platform or base 16 of the press.

Following mounting of the hassock cover as aforesaid, the form and cover are lowered against the platform, which effects closing off of the open bottom end of the form, and then a charge of stuffing or filling material such as cXcelsior 18 is supplied through the upper end of said form, all as indicated in FIG. 2.

Thereupon, as is shown in FIG. 3, the ram 14 is power-actuated throughout its working stroke, such resulting in the stufiing material 18 being compacted and densied within the form 12. Preferably, the charging and compacting operations, rather than being effected in a single filling and a single compacting stage, are instead carried out in a succession of stages, whereby to obtain a more even distribution and compaction of the stuffing material, but this multistage operation has not been illustrate/ as it is incidental to the present invention.

FiIG. 4 illustrates that the ram which effects compaction of the stufling material is also employed to forcibly lower the hassock bottom 2t) downwardly through the form 12 and correspondingly into the open bottom end of the now lfilled hassock cover 10 mounted thereon, as effects final compaction of the stuffing material. During this lowering movement of the bottom 20 under the thrust of the ram, it is of course guided by the form. It will be understood that while the hassock bottom 20 is lowered to a position somewhat below that of the open bottom edge of the hassock cover 10, attachment of said bottom to the hassock cover is still not possible, due to the fact that the form 12 is in its lowermost position and hence is disposed intermediate the bottom and the hassock cover. Y v

Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the next step is that of retracting the form from the interior of the stuffed cover while the ram is maintained stationary, thereby to hold the stuffed hassock cover and the hassock bottom to be aflixed thereto in place on the platform 16 in readiness for the operation of securing said bottom to the hassock cover.

While the present invention also follows the prior practice of retracting the ram 120 immediately following retraction of the form 12, it is a feature of the invention that ram retraction and the tendency of the compacted stufling material to expand are utilized automatically to effect final securement of the bottom 20 to the now stuffed hassock cover 10. Such is made possible by the special complementary interlocking means provided along the bottom edge of the cover 10 and the peripheral or outer-edge rim of the bottom 20, and which coact in manner as to engage and complete an interlocking connection between the bottom edge of the cover and said rim as an incident to the initial retracting movement of the ram from the cover.

More particularly, and now referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the bottom edge of the hassock cover 10 carries a combination welt-forming and locking-flange strip generally designated 22. In its normal and assembled positions in which it is shown in FIG. `8, this welt-forming and locking flange strip has substantially L-shaped section, and its horizontal leg `24 terminates in a rounded enlargement forming a bead 24a, and its vertical leg which constitutes a locking flange 26 preferably has progressively decreasing thickness as defined by the steps 26a.

Referring to FIG. 7 in particular, the lower-edge portion of the hassock cover 10 is preferably secured to the combination welt-forming and locking-flange strip 22 by double row of stitches designated 28 and 30 which may be sewn by means of a double-needle sewing machine when the combined welt and locking flange is deformed to a substantially flat state in which it is shown in this figure. FIG. 7 also illustrates the preferred under-folding of the cover material so that it forms two plies disposed against the relatively upper face of the horizontal or welt-forming leg 24, and also that the cover material is extended about the rounded bead 24a and then is brought inwardly to lie against the under face of said leg, and is further extended so as to face the inner side of the locking flange 26, which latter becomes upright in the normal or assembled position of said welt-forming and locking-flange strip in which it is shown in FIG. 8. It is further to be observed from FIG. 7 that the same line of stitches 28 which secures the under-folded portion of the cover material against the upper face of the welt-forming leg -24 of the strip 22 also passes through the material which is brought inwardly to extend across the under surface of said leg. Such a bottom edge construction results in a finished `bottom welt being provided along the bottom edge of the hassock cover 10.

At this point, it is explained that the combination weltforming and locking-flange strip .22 is fashioned as an extrusion from a plastic material having limited stretchability and form-retaining properties, such as vinyl. As a result, following deformation of the normally L-sectioned extrusion strip to its substantially flattened state as in FIG. 7, it will spring back to its normal L-shaped configuration as in IFIG. 8. Furthermore, the limited stretchability of the combination welt-forming and locking flange strip 22 also permits of the hassock cover 10 being initially applied, with a close fit, to the form 12, as in FIG. 1.

The complementary locking means provided along the rim or periphery of the hassock bottom 20 is of a type adapted to interlockingly receive the aforesaid locking flange 26 of the combination welt-forming and locking flange strip 22. More particularly, said bottom is provided along its outer edge with a downwardly opening annular groove 34 of rounded U-secton (which of course opens upwardly when the bottom is inverted as in FIGS, 4 6 inclusive) and preferably also with an inner, upwardly-opening groove 36 of lesser-width U-section, Whose side walls add stiffness to the outer edge portion of the bottom while at the same time permitting the outer of the two side walls defining said groove 34 to flex inwardly a limited amount as is desirable during movement of the bottom 20 through the form `1'2 under the thrust of the ram .14, all as previously described. The width and depth of the groove 34 are lby design such that said groove will snuglyl accommodate the locking flange 26 of the strip 22 when said flange is properly related with and thence forced thereinto.

Now referring to FIGS. 4-6 inclusive, and having in mind the complementary interlocking means provided on both the bottom edge of the hassock cover and on the outer edge of the hassock bottom as aforesaid, it will be realized that if the bottom is forced downwardly into the form 12 to a level slightly below that of the locking flange 26 of the combination welt-forming and locking-flange strip 22, lifting of the form will in effect condition both said locking flange and the outer groove 34 of the hassock bottom 20 for interlocking engagement. Also, it will be seen that initial movement of the ram 16 on its up stroke will result in the bottom 20 to positively move in relatively upward direction, i.e. axially, within the hassock cover under the substantial axially-acting force developed within the stuffing material consequent to its compaction and which is released against the inner face of said bottom as the ram retracts. Consequent to this movement, the groove 34 of the bottom will move against the aforesaid locking flange 26 which proceds to force its way thereinto whereby to complete a secure connection between the bottom and the cover. Since the force exerted on the inner face of the bottom 20 by the compacting stuffing material is a continuing force, not only is the aforesaid connection between the locking flange of the combination welt-forming and locking flange strip 22 and the outeredge groove 34 of the hassock bottom automatically established in the first instance, but also it is maintained thereafter, with the result that once made said connection cannot be broken except by cutting away the hassock cover from the bottom 22.

Moreover, it will be appreciated that because the rate of retracting movement of the ram 14 from the filled hassock cover 10 can be closely controlled, it is possible to use this control to make whatever adjustment between the locking flange 26 of the hassock cover and the outeredge groove 34 of the bottom 20 as may be necessary to insure proper interlocking engagement of said parts.

The present invention makes it possible for the hassock bottom 20 to be made of many different materials which could not have been used previously. For example, said bottom can be made of rigid plastic molded to proper configuration. It is also possible to mold the hassock bottom from fiberglass, plastic-impregnated jute, plasticimpregnated burlap, laminated plastic-impregnated paper, etc. Regardless of what material the bottom is made from, it will of course be prefabricated complete before it is applied to the press for assembly with a filled hassock cover. This is also true of the hassock cover 10 since the latter will always be supplied to the press in fully prefabricated form. Thus, upon completion of the stuffing and of the bottom-applying and securing operations, the hassock coming from the press is for all practical purposes complete and ready for packaging and shipment.

Without further analysis, it will be appreciated that the method of hassock manufacture and the resulting hassock bottom construction as described and/or illustrated in the foregoing satisfies the objectives of the invention as earlier explained in thoroughly dependable and practical manner. However, it should be understood that the method is susceptible to minor variation from that expressly described and/or illustrated, and this is true also of the hassock bottom construction as herein proposed.

For example, instead of the hassock cover being stuffed after its placement about or exteriorly of the. form or can, the cover may be stuffed after being initially positioned and thereupon held inside the form, which latter is a stuing practice followed by some hassock manufacturers. As to the hassock bottom construction of the invention being also entitled to some latitude, it will be clear that such is as equally applicable to legged hassocks as to hassocks which rest directly on a Hoor or other supporting surface as illustrated, since in a legged hassock, the hassock bottom will of itself constitute, or mount a separate plate, to which the hassock legs may be appropriately secured. Accordingly, it will be understood that all matter disclosed herein shall be taken as illustrative and without limiting effect.

I claim:

1. The herein described method of hassock manufacture which includes the steps of providing a hassock cover and a hassock bottom along their bottom and outer edges, respectively, with complemental interlockable connecting means of a type adapted to interlock with one another responsive to movement of the bottom axially outwardly with respect to the hassock cover, stuffing said hassock cover with lling material and compacting said material within the cover, applying force to said hassock bottom in manner as to cause it to move axially into the interior of the hassock cover against the opposing force exerted thereon by the compacted filling material, and relieving said so applied force thereby to allow said bottom to move axially outwardly within the hassock cover under said opposing force to a position therein in which said interlockable means interlock one with the other and secure the bottom in place within the hassock cover.

2. The herein described method of hassock manufacture which includes the steps of providing a hassock cover and a hassock bottom along their bottom and outer edges, respectively, with complemental interlockable connecting means of a type adapted to interlock with one another responsive to movement of the bottom axially outwardly with respect to the hassock cover, stuflng said hassock cover with iilling material and compacting said material within the cover, applying force to said hassock bottom in manner as to cause it to move axially into the interior of the hassock cover against the opposing force exerted thereon by the compacted filling material, and permitting said bottom to move in axially outward direction within said hassock cover responsive to said opposing force, thereby to eect interlocking connection of said complemental connecting means and final placement of said hassock bottom within the hassock cover through utilization of said opposing force.

3. In a hassock, a hassock cover, a mass of lling material in a compacted state within the cover, a hassock bottom, and complemental locking means provided along the bottom edge portion of the cover and along the outer 55 periphery of the bottom, respectively, and being maintained in interlocked relation solely by the force exerted on the inner face of the bottom by the compacted lling material.

4. In a hassock according to claim 3, wherein said interlocking means includes an annular locking ange extending radially inwardly from the hassock cover into the interior space thereof and an annular complemental locking formation extending along the edge of the bottom and with which said ange has interlocking engagement when said bottom is pressed from within by the compacted lling material in axially outward direction.

S. In a hassock according to claim 3, wherein the locking means provided along the bottom edge of the cover comprises a strip of plastic material having L-section whose horizontal leg is covered by the material of said cover thereby to provide a lower-edge welt and whose vertical leg is disposed radially inwardly from the cover and projects axially into the interior space thereof to detine an annular locking flange, and wherein the complemental locking means provided along the outer periphery of the bottom comprises an annular groove extending along the periphery of said bottom and being faced to receive and receiving said locking flange when said bottom is pressed from within by said compacted lilling material in axial outward direction.

6. In a hassock according to claim 5, wherein the free edge of the horizontal flange of said strip is formed as a rounded enlargement and the lower edge portion of the cover is disposed in covering relation about said horizontal flange so as to form a welt and is continued inwardly to extend as a facing on the inner surface of the vertical ange.

7. In a hassock according to claim 6, wherein the lower edge portion of the cover is secured to the plastic strip by double rows of stitching, one row passing through the material of said edge portion and the horizontal leg of the plastic strip, and the other row extending through the material of said edge portion which faces the inner surface of said vertical ilange and said iiange.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,311,367 7/1919 Angier 53-24 2,509,580 5/ 1950 Smith 297-462 2,552,693 5/1951 Smith 297--462 2,742,747 4/ 1956 Seaton 53--24 2,760,562 8/1956 Fisher 5-'353.l 2,833,337 5/1958 Meekin 297-462 3,060,652 10/1962 Eckman 53-22 3,125,377 3/1964 Bridges 297-462 FOREIGN PATENTS 806,774 12/ 1958 Great Britain. 894,897 4/ 1962 Great Britain.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

C. A. NUNBERG, Assistant Examiner'. 

3. IN A HASSOCK, A HASSOCK COVER, A MASS OF FILLING MATERIAL IN A COMPACTED STATE WITHIN THE COVER, A HASSOCK BOTTOM, AND COMPLEMENTAL LOCKING MEANS PROVIDED ALONG THE BOTTOM EDGE PORTION OF THE COVER AND ALONG THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF THE BOTTOM, RESPECTIVELY, AND BEING MAINTAINED IN INTERLOCKED RELATION SOLELY BY THE FORCE EXERTED ON THE INNER FACE OF THE BOTTOM BY THE COMPACTED FILLING MATERIAL. 